1
URBANIZATION PROCESSES ALONG THE MEDITERRANEAN
COAST OF ALICANTE PROVINCE.
Pablo Martí CiriquiánUniversidad de Alicante [email protected]
Almudena Nolasco Cirugeda, Universidad de Alicante [email protected]
Abstract
This study of land use over the past two decades on the coast of Alicante province
analyses the characteristics of new land use and new models of urban and territorial land use.
These new spatial trends represent a major change in land use, which includes new spatial
and functional relationships.
The objectives therefore are to identify and characterise areas of new recent growth
and provide a quantitative (surface area, density, etc.) and qualitative (new landscapes,
morphologies, etc.) assessment.
The methodology uses graphic and statistical analysis to make subsequent quantitative
considerations. By comparing the three series of satellite images provided by the EU Corine
Land Cover project in the Region of Valencia for the years 1990, 2000 and 2006, the aim is
to identify the main areas of growth during these periods. Having defined these areas of
growth, detailed graphic analysis is carried out on aerial photographs taken on dates closest
to the dates of the images provided by Corine Land Cover.
Using statistics provided by the State (Census, Housing and Development Ministries),
the Region of Valencia (Valencian Statistics Institute) and the local councils involved
(municipal census), as well as other local data, this growth can be quantified and its density
assessed.
The expected results are concerned with characterising and defining new models of
urban land use on the coast of Alicante, and the territorial characteristics of new recent
urbanism. Identifying new residential models helps to shape future territorial and municipal
planning.
Keywords: Town planning, sprawl, coastline, Alicante
2
1. INTRODUCTION
According to the report published by the Observatory on Sustainability in Spain,
“Changes in Land Use in Spain. Implications for Sustainability”, the amount of land
transformation over the past 20 years in Spain is equivalent to more than a third of all land
transformation that has occurred over the country’s entire history. Artificial surface has
increased more in Spain (along with Ireland and Portugal) than anywhere else in Europe.
Clearly, this change in land use has not occurred evenly across the country; the
metropolitan area of Madrid and the coastal regions of the Mediterranean are where the
highest rates of transformation have been recorded.
It is the Region of Valencia that has experienced the greatest increase in artificial
surface at 50%. The processes of intensive coastal urbanisation are largely determined by the
“littoralisation” of urban development in Spain. As tourism is such a driving force behind the
economy in many areas of eastern Spain, population movement has arisen for two specific
reasons. Firstly, people are attracted by the availability of work in the construction and
tourism sectors, and secondly others (particularly retired people) migrate from other EU
countries, attracted by the favourable climate and the multiple leisure and recreational
possibilities that the coast has to offer.
Of the three provinces in the Region of Valencia, Castellón, Valencia and Alicante, the
latter has recorded the highest levels of coastal land transformation. According to the data,
for the strip of land between 0 and 2 kilometres from the coast, Alicante is the third Spanish
province (behind Castellón and Huelva) with the highest levels of artificial land
transformation, but is the first province in the country for the strip from 2 to 5 kilometres,
recording an increase of 92.2%, with all other Spanish provinces (including those on the
Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, and the islands) below 40%. Alicante province, therefore,
has the highest level of artificial coastal land transformation, not just in the Region of
Valencia but in the whole of Spain.
The strong growth of both the continuous and particularly the discontinuous urban
fabric has produced the greatest impact on the coastline of Alicante province, causing a major
environmental burden in terms of resource consumption, emissions and waste. Furthermore,
in recent decades these processes of intensive urbanisation along the coastline have
transformed the landscape to a high degree both on the coast itself and in immediately
adjacent areas.
3
Strip 0 to 2 kilometres from coast Strip 2 to 5 kilometres from coast
Total
surface
area
Artificial
surface
area in
2000 (Ha)
% total
that is
artificial
Increase
1987-2000
(%)
Total
surface
area
Artificial
surface
area in
2000 (Ha)
% total
that is
artificial
Increase
1987-2000
(%)
GIRONA 29333 7070 24,1% 0,3% 36299 3274 9,0% 11,3
BARCELONA 22791 11366 49,9% 12,0% 34314 11618 33,9% 13,4%
TARRAGONA 35505 9721 27,5% 9,0% 47154 5113 10,8% 20,7%
CASTELLÓN 21905 3732 17,0% 46,2% 33039 2173 6,6% 34,0%
VALENCIA 21480 4672 21,8% 35,1% 31800 5078 16,0% 20,8%
ALICANTE 33414 12629 37,8% 40,8% 51610 8047 15,6% 92.2%
MURCIA 30185 5800 19,2% 23,3% 37162 3757 10,1% 28,1%
ALMERÍA 40160 4093 10,2% 14,1% 58014 1873 3,2% 31,1%
GRANADA 12954 1191 9,2% 24,1% 18724 361 1,9% 5,9%
MÁLAGA 31316 13549 43,3% 16,5% 47836 6276 13,1% 29,9%
TOTAL MEDITERRANEAN
COAST278841 73823 26,5% 19,1% 393953 47569 12,0% 28,7%
Table 1. Artificial surface area by strips of land parallel to the coast between 1987 and 2000.
Source: Observatory of Sustainability in Spain, 2006
For these reasons it is pertinent to study and characterise settlements in Alicante
province’s coastal towns, with the aim of determining how and where coastal land has been
used in recent decades.
2. COASTAL DEVELOPMENT IN ALICANTE BETWEEN 1990 AND 2006
The process of coastal land transformation in Alicante province was particularly
intense during this period, as shown by the data comparing the area with the coastlines of the
rest of Spain and Europe. It is also significant that the increases in population and in artificial
surface area for the coast as a whole are of a very similar percentage, at 50% and 48%,
respectively. However, the disparities between these sets of figures when studying the data
for individual towns are highly surprising and show the compact or disperse way in which
different towns have grown, as well as other processes of second home use.
As well as the intense coastal land transformations mentioned above, the area has also
recorded significantly high and perceptible levels of landscape transformation. Among the
various processes of how the coastline and its nearby areas are used, two characteristic
4
processes can be identified which sometimes occur simultaneously in a town, but do not on
other occasions. These two processes are, on the one hand, the consolidation of traditional
land use carried out to date, and on the other, the introduction of a new type of use, according
to new ways in which the land is defined, its use allocated, etc.
Artificial
land 1990
(Ha)
Artificial
land 2006
(Ha)
Land
Increase
1990-2006
(%)
Population
1990 (inhab.)
Population
2006
(inhab.)
Population
Increase
1990-2006
(%)
DÉNIA 1272,07 1538,61 21% 24764 42704 72%
JÁVEA 2769,44 3170,45 14% 16473 29923 82%
BENITACHELL 238,16 454,41 91% 1641 4773 191%
TEULADA 943,44 978,96 4% 5230 13281 154%
BENISA 909,61 922,54 1% 8045 12690 58%
CALP 1054,40 1220,92 16% 10683 27768 160%
ALTEA 815,90 964,28 18% 12286 22648 84%
L’ALFAS DEL PI 746,86 850,41 14% 9075 19913 119%
BENIDORM 881,19 1055,06 20% 42442 69058 63%
FINESTRAT 50,05 148,18 196% 1315 4945 276%
VILLAJOYOSA 197,92 534,98 170% 21982 30550 39%
EL CAMPELLO 648,04 831,34 28% 10802 25055 132%
ALICANTE 2841,33 4315,92 52% 265473 322673 22%
ELCHE 2350,83 4469,84 90% 188062 222422 18%
SANTA POLA 438,55 875,09 100% 14957 29221 95%
GUARDAMAR DEL SEGURA 125,47 389,65 211% 6899 15132 119%
TORREVIEJA 1076,07 1961,81 82% 25014 94006 276%
ORIHUELA 1033,50 2508,52 143% 49475 80468 63%
PILAR DE LA HORADADA 448,20 729,98 63% 7500 20338 171%
TOTAL MEDITERRANEAN
COAST 18841,03 27920,9548%
722118 108756850%
Table 2. Artificial areas and population of coastal towns in Alicante province between 1990 and 2006.
Source: author’s own using data from Corine Land Cover, National Statistics Institute, national census and municipal census.
Different morphologies and strategies have also been used to transform the province’s
various coastal areas, and it is interesting to analyse the changes that have occurred over the
past two decades in comparison with their initial status, from the northernmost districts to the
areas furthest to the south.
5
Figure 1. Artificial areas of coastal towns in Alicante province between 1990 and 2006.
Source: author’s own using data from Corine Land Cover.
2.1. La Marina Alta (Dénia, Jávea, Teulada, Benitachell and Calp)
Since the 1970s, tourist destination development in the north of Alicante province has
been based on a model combining residential and seasonal tourism with single-family
housing on private plots located inland (a short distance from the coast) and multifamily
summer apartments next to the beaches, and maintaining traditional urban centres. During
these decades, the three aforementioned land use models have been strengthened, but new
activities and residential types that did not form part of the traditional use of this district.
Regarding traditional urban centres of coastal towns, a considerable increase has been
observed in the use of coastal land in towns such as Denia, Jávea and Calp. In Denia, where
the continuous urban fabric has grown the most, with a 9.8% increase, use of the ring around
Land occupation 1990 Land occupation 2006
N
0 50Km
6
the traditional urban centre has become consolidated, together with areas linked to roads
connecting the town with outlying areas. In Jávea, the urban centre has spread towards the
coast, establishing a new continuous area between the historic part of the town and areas of
coastal use, and occupying the town’s coastal strip to a width of almost half a kilometre
which up to the 1970s had received only low levels of artificialisation. In the case of Calp,
the little coastal space that existed prior to the period in question has been saturated, with all
land between the urban centre and the Peñón de Ifach being used.
Figure 2. Javea 1984 and 2009.
Source: Instituto Geográfico Nacional and Google Earth.
In this last case, it is highly significant that this land use process should occur at the
same time as the landmark declaration of the area as a Nature Park, in 1987, with the value of
the Peñón being recognised at the same time as the whole of the coastal strip from the urban
centre to the park’s entrance became fully developed.
With regard to tourist use of the land, it should be pointed out that the two
aforementioned characteristic models have become consolidated: single-family housing as a
part of inland urban sprawl, and summer apartments in coastal areas. The urban sprawl of
single-family housing remains a characteristic part of the landscape in Denia and Jávea, with
reduced increases of 19.26% and 10.79% in the discontinuous urban fabric, and is contained
in Moraira (Teulada) and Benisa, with a 1.8% and 0.25% increase in each case. In other
towns, this type of land use has expanded hugely. For example, in Benitaxell the
discontinuous urban fabric amounts to 56.32% of surface area in this period. Added to this
process of expansion is the change in type of new buildings being built, producing a major
impact on both the land and the landscape.
7
This is a change in the configuration of new homes and their size. Until then, land
planning for housing developments had followed the directives set by the authorities of each
area; roads and plots were adapted to the orography, and matched the rural subdivision of
land and changes in elevation. Furthermore, the size of plots allowed the perception of
geographical relief to be maintained, on the one hand, and on the other provided a large free
surface area (usually areas of greenery) that reduced the visual impact of what had been built.
However, certain new developments (under the auspices of planning that fails to distinguish
between urban and rural areas) have totally changed intervention in the area, producing new
artificialised land with a major visual impact not at all in keeping with the underlying
orography, and of very little quality in terms of town planning and architecture. These are
operations in which all previously existing grid systems and thoroughfares are done away
with, producing a completely decontextualised and anachronistic system with regard to their
surroundings. If, as usually happens in most of these cases, the grid is very small and tight for
single-family housing or adjoining dwellings that do not provide any free areas (so no areas
of greenery), what is built has a very high impact. If this were not enough, some of these new
interventions feature uninterrupted rows up to 800 metres long of homes in line with the road
(and not set back from the road as traditional with single-family housing), like a new kind of
city wall. Until then, this situation had not occurred in the north of Alicante province.
Finally, mention should be made of new activities that have been incorporated,
including not only new and greatly expanded industrial and commercial areas, but also new
golf courses. Finally, new activities include not only new and greatly expanded industrial and
commercial areas, but also new golf courses. Two new courses opened, one in Denia (Club
de Golf Jávea in 1981), and one in Jávea only a few kilometres from Benitaxell (La Sella
Golf in 1991), both of which feature associated low-density housing.
2.2. La Marina Baixa (Altea, Alfàs del Pi, Benidorm, Finestrat and Villajoyosa)
This area, which is dominated by the presence of Benidorm, as a tourist destination
that has successfully trialled a model of high-rise housing (linked to the provision of hotels
and apartments), features major growth including the ongoing skyscraper model, low-density
developments and the inclusion of major new activities in the area. Many of the towns in this
district are in fact those with the highest percentages of land transformation increase
throughout the north of the province (196% for Finestrat, and 170% for Villajoyosa).
8
Coastal town centres have continued to experience major growth. In Altea,
developments have grown along two lines, the first running parallel to the coast following the
N-322 road heading north, and the second heading inland and helped by the creation of
Miguel Hernández University’s new Fine Art Faculty. Benidorm has experienced a major
increase in artificial surface, where traditional land use close to the coast combines with new
activities such as theme parks (Aqualandia and Mundomar), and with areas between the
coastal part of the town and the motorway being developed where new low-density buildings
and a new golf course have appeared. Villajoyosa has undergone major growth next to the
urban centre along the coast in both directions, although particularly towards Benidorm.
Despite this growth, there are still unused areas along Villajoyosa’s long coastline.
Regarding the discontinuous urban fabric, there has been a major increase in land
used for new low-density housing developments, some of which have had a considerable
impact on the land. In the first of these, in Altea, housing developments in the foothills of the
Sierra de Bernia have had a particularly surprising visual impact, as not only has an area been
used that traditionally formed part of the green system of the hills, the types of buildings
erected increase the impact on the landscape: some of these are four-storey multifamily
buildings in linear blocks which in some instances are almost three hundred metres long.
Taking into account that they are at a certain elevation and that they overlook the basin
formed by the estuary of the River Algar, the visual impact stretches for more than ten
kilometres.
Figure 3. New linear types of buildings near Altea
Source: Google Earth 2007.
The other case of relevant land transformation is that of Benidorm, as this town had
been associated with high-density tourist hotels and apartments next to the sea. This model
9
remains and has been strengthened along the more inland strips, but an alternative and totally
different land use proposal has arisen in recent decades. This new strategy concerns the use
of inland areas, the linear strip between the AP-7 motorway and the hills of the Sierra
Cortina, where the land has been given new uses: the Terra Mítica, Terranatura and
Aquanatura theme parks, and an important amount of land used for golf courses (Viallaitana
levante and poniente), together with a hotel and apartment complex imitating a traditional
Mediterranean village far from the type of tourism offered by Benidorm to date. It should be
considered that these new uses next to the AP-7 motorway follow a prior well-established
trend in this period in the neighbouring town of Finestrat which, despite having little
coastline, has a considerable strip of land in the area surrounding the aforementioned
motorway.
2.3. L’Alacantí (El Campello and Alicante)
The influence of the province’s capital, the city of Alicante, is felt most particularly in
this area, where land use is closely linked to the coast, in terms both of continuity with
previously developed areas and of vacant land. In fact, the coastline from north to south has,
with some exceptions, now been fully developed, and the only stretches that remain vacant
are the cliff areas and the mouth of the River Seco, to the north of Campello, and the tidal
marsh of Agua Amarga, in the south of Alicante.
Figure 4. Alicante 1984 and 2009.
Source: Instituto Geográfico Nacional and Google Earth.
Regarding coastline use, the most important areas are Campello, where the continuous
fabric has increased by 37%, and the San Juan beach area (within Alicante’s municipal
boundaries), where all land near to the coast not previously developed has now been
10
transformed. If use of the first coastal strip was based on second homes used during the
summer, new uses have maintained this but combined it with first homes and leisure-related
activities. Development in this area combines low-density housing with medium-density
areas similar to those in the ring outside Alicante, with very urban characteristics. The area
also features a large golf course linked to the single-family housing built next to the San Juan
de Alicante beach.
The inland area has also undergone major development in this period, with the
following main characteristics: on the one hand, the availability of residential
accommodation that was an alternative to town centre housing and based on single-family
adjoining housing, and on the other hand, the development of new activities, including the
recurring new golf courses, both to the north in Mutxamel linked to property developments,
and to the south in Alicante, close to a new area of tertiary activities.
2.4. El Baix Vinalopo (Elche and Santa Pola)
Until recently, this district had been less affected by the characteristic dynamics of
tourism experienced by the rest of the province, although this trend has changed in recent
years. The administrative configuration of this area has led the municipal area of Elche to
include just the northern and southern points on the coast of this district, with the central area
occupied by Santa Pola, and it is precisely here where the second largest increase of land
used for discontinuous urban fabric has been experienced, with a 634% increase between
1990 and 2006.
Figure 5.Sierra de Santa Pola 1984 and 2009.
Source: Instituto Geográfico Nacional and Google Earth.
11
Faced with the contention of Elche’s urban criteria, which have only strengthened the
pre-existing development on the coast though with restrained growth, with most of the
coastline remaining undeveloped, the move by Santa Pola to use the hills and cape of the
same name speculatively is particularly significant. As well as the large amount of artificial
surface area incorporated, constructions in the hills of the Sierra de Santa Pola on the north
and east side with the heavy development of the highest areas have caused one of the most
notable visual impacts, as the high-density developments render the natural topography of the
hills unrecognisable.
As a result of these interventions, the whole of the Santa Pola coastline, with the
exception of the saltworks, is almost entirely occupied by buildings, with only the coastal
edges belonging to Elche (the dunes at El Altet, Carabassí and Elche) remaining
undeveloped.
2.5. El Baix Segura (Guardamar, Torrevieja, Orihuela and Pilar de la Horadada)
The south of Alicante province is characterised by large natural areas along its
coastline and strong pressure from low-density urbanisation for residential tourism purposes.
During this period, the natural areas have continued to enjoy protected status, but with
property development very close by. The surface area of traditional town centres has
increased and inland areas close to the coast have become consolidated as alternative land for
low-density housing developments.
The areas of nature include the Guardamar dunes and the lagoons of la Mata and
Torrevieja. The dunes are populated by pine trees along most of the Guardamar coastline and
have been preserved during this period, although in counterpoint the traditional town centre
has increased in size and new developments have been created along the second line of the
coast, only a few kilometres from the sea. The lagoons have been more affected by urban
activity, as on the narrow strip of land between the two lagoons that form part of the Lagunas
de Torrevieja y la Mata nature park, there is a large residential development that has had a
major impact on the land and on the landscape. And as with the case of the Peñón Ifach, it is
again significant that the creation of the nature park and the areas of development around and
between the park’s elements have occurred simultaneously.
12
Regarding town centre growth, Torrevieja has undergone continued urban expansion
since the 1970s, characterised by sprawling development within the municipal boundary as a
result of the proliferation of low-density developments that are added to with no clearly
defined road structure or land designation.
Figure 6. Torrevieja 1984 and 2009.
Source: Instituto Geográfico Nacional and Google Earth.
Continuing from Torrevieja, to the south, Orihuela has opted for the same kind of
residential land use, with coastal areas up to the AP-7 motorway and strips parallel to the sea
up to six kilometres wide all having been fully developed. This use has been based on
adjoining housing developments on very small plots, with the resulting connotations for the
landscape, as mentioned previously. This low-quality, high-quantity urban sprawl is in
contrast with the traditional use of coastal land in Orihuela, which is characterised by high-
quality tourist settlements such as the Dehesa de Compoamor and Cabo Roig, featuring a
predominance of single-family housing in independent plots of land of a certain size, as well
as other areas being used, including for high-rise apartments.
13
The expansion of these land use models has even spread to some towns that do not
have any coastline, such as San Fulgencio and Rojales. In these towns on the second line of
the coast, large areas of land have been used for low-density housing developments,
including golf courses in one of them, with very small plots of land on higher areas of ground
on both sides of the Segura river basin, with the resulting visual impact on the land as
mentioned previously.
LA MARINA ALTA LA MARINA BAIXA L’ALACANTÍ EL BAIX
VINALOP
EL BAIX SEGURA
Dé
nia
Já
ve
a
Be
nit
ach
ell
Te
ula
da
Be
nis
sa
Ca
lp
Alfa
s d
el P
i
Alt
ea
Be
nid
or
m
Fin
est
rat
Vill
ajo
yo
sa
Ca
mp
ell
o
Alic
an
te
Elc
he
Sa
nta
Po
la
Gu
ard
am
ar
de
l Se
gu
ra
To
rre
vie
ja
Ori
hu
ela
Pila
r d
e la
Ho
rad
ad
a
Continuous residential fabric ● ● • • • ● • ● ● ◦ ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Discontinuous residential
fabric
• • ● • ◦ • • ● ● ● ● ● ● • ● ● ● ● ●
New types • ● ● ◦ ◦ • • ● ● ● • ● ● • ● ● ● ● •
Golf courses ● ● ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ● ◦ ● • ◦ • ● ◦ ◦ • • ● ◦
Economic activities ● ● ◦ • ◦ ◦ ◦ • ● ● • • ● ● ● • ● ● •
Asset land • • ◦ • ◦ • ◦ ● ● ● • ● ● ● • • ● • •
Coastal land use ● ● ● ◦ ◦ ● ● • ● • ● ● ● ◦ ● ◦ ● ● ●
Inland use • • ◦ ◦ ◦ ● ● • ● ● • ● ● • ● ● ● ● ●
Landscape impact • • ● ◦ ◦ • • ● ● ● • ● ● • ● ● ● ● •
Table 3. Increase of various types of land use in coastal towns between 1990 and 2006.
Key:
● Major land growth
• Moderate growth of land or in neighbouring towns
◦ Lack of land increase
Source: author’s own using data from Corine Land Cover, aerial photographs and fieldwork.
3. CONCLUSIONS
Between 1990 and 2006, Alicante province experienced intensive coastal land
transformation, and towns that had not previously undergone urban development began
intensive land development processes, whilst most towns that had already begun
development increased their territorial occupation.
In this period, the few remaining vacant areas were all used from north to south. Only
the protected parts of the coastline or coastal areas with conditions preventing development,
14
such as cliffs or sand dunes, were left untouched. Regarding natural areas, two simultaneous
and contradictory processes occurred: various areas next to the coastline were declared nature
parks, whilst areas close to and neighbouring those areas of nature became strongly
artificialised.
Large inland areas not far from the coast were also transformed. This trend occurred
in all districts, albeit with varying intensity, and created a second row of buildings running
parallel to the coast, even affecting inland towns with no coastline within their municipal
boundaries.
The impact on the landscape is considerable, due to the certain types of land use that
are not at all in keeping with the type of land itself, due to the transformation of areas with
singular orographical characteristics and the extent to which land development has spread.
Finally, although much planning has been approved and is currently pending
execution, the current economic context will probably result in a delay in such developments.
As a result, the coming years may compensate for the voracity with which land has been
transformed during this period in many towns along the Alicante province coastline.
4. BIBLIOGRAPHY
COPUT (1995): Estrategias de vertebración territorial. Documento II. Avance del Plan de
Desarrollo Urbanístico de la Comunidad Valenciana. Valencia. 301 pp.
EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY. (2006). “Urban sprawl in Europe”. Copenhagen.
http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/eea_report_2006_10/eea_report_10_2006.pdf
GÓMEZ ORDOÑEZ, J.L., NAVARRO VERA, J.R., MARTÍ CIRIQUIÁN, P. (2004): La
Construcción del territorio litoral. Universidad de Alicante, 38 pp.
GOZÁLVEZ PÉREZ, V., PONCE HERRERO, G., COSTA MAS, J., CANALES
MARTÍNEZ, G. & NAVARRO VERA, J.R. (1993), "Los espacios periurbanos en el área de
Alicante-Elche (España)". Investigaciones geográficas.1993, nº 11, pp.171-188.
MARTÍ CIRIQUIÁN, P., GARCÍA MAYOR, C. (2008): “Tourism in Alicante:
developments form the 60´s to the present day” en Exploring the public city. Universidad de
Alicante, pp 62-67
15
MARTÍN MATEO, R., PONCE HERRERO, G., VERA REBOLLO, F. (1993): El litoral
valenciano. Madrid. Ministerio de Fomento, 123 pp.
OBSERVATORIO DE LA SOSTENIBILIDAD EN ESPAÑA. (2006). “Cambios de
Ocupación del Suelo en España. Implicaciones para la sostenibilidad”.
http://www.sostenibilidad-es.org/sites/default/files/_Informes/tematicos/suelo/suelo-esp.pdf
PONCE HERRERO, G. (2006): La ciudad fragmentada. Nuevas formas de hábitat. Alicante,
Universidad de Alicante, 253 pp.
ROCA, J. (2008): Cinco paisajes por cincuenta años. Ministerio de Vivienda
Top Related